New world city ranking crowns a record breaking year for Edinburgh

Moving up to 31st in the world is the highest International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) ranking for Edinburgh since 2010.

2014/15 has been one of the most successful years in Convention Edinburgh's history, breaking records in terms of bid wins, and growing success for its prestigious Ambassador Programme.

Working with its members, Convention Edinburgh has secured 208 new conference bid wins for the city in 2014/15. These events are expected to bring more than 65,000 delegates in the coming years generating over an estimated £91.5m to the local economy.

Recent new bid wins for the city have included the European Society for Clinical Cell Analysis in October 2016 and the International Conference on Ocean Energy in 2016. These two events alone will bring a combined 1600 delegates, and are estimated to be worth over £2.4M for the local economy.

Edinburgh’s successful and 500 strong Ambassador Programme is a perfect example of the building momentum behind Convention Edinburgh. In the last 12 months, over 50 new ambassadors, particularly from Life Sciences and Commerce & Industry have joined the programme, each identifying potential conferences that Edinburgh could host.

This is great news for the city of Edinburgh and testament to the hard work of everyone involved. 2014/15 was a crucial year in Convention Edinburgh’s ongoing strategic development, not only in terms of bid win success, but positive client response.

Client reactions to innovations such as the new conventionedinburgh.com website, our This is Conferencing promotional video and the Delegate Reward Card have surpassed all expectations and set a benchmark for us to build upon. Current developments underway, such as our new bid document, will also play a crucial role in Edinburgh progressing even further up the ICCA rankings over the next couple of years.

Having hosted 72 ICCA recognised international association meetings in 2014, Edinburgh remains the most popular meeting destination in the UK outside of London and the only other UK city placed in the top 50. Scotland’s capital city is keeping good company, with other cities placed in the top 50 such as Shanghai (29th), Melbourne (37th) and Zurich (33rd).

This is further evidence that Edinburgh is continuing to punch above its weight internationally as a major conference destination. Facilities in the city are world class, particularly the extension and upgrade to the EICC and refurbished Assembly Rooms. Connectivity continues to improve, thanks to the tram, major upgrades to both Waverley and Haymarket rail hubs and the recent £50M investment in Edinburgh Airport’s arrivals hall.